By Peter Bedford MP, UK

Peter Bedford is Member of Parliament for Mid Leicestershire.

The debate about Britain’s role on the world stage is too often framed as a choice between addressing challenges at home and engaging abroad.

Yet a recent cross-party parliamentary delegation to Kenya, organised by the Coalition for Global Prosperity, reinforced a different message: strategic engagement overseas is not an alternative to advancing Britain’s national interest – it is an essential part of it.

The visit examined the UK-Kenya relationship across trade, investment, security, defence and development, as well as regional responses to displacement across the region. Meetings with Kenyan and British officials, parliamentarians, business leaders, and international organisations, underscored Kenya’s position as one of the UK’s most important strategic partners in Africa.

We saw first-hand how British-backed investment is helping to support economic growth. At BasiGo, an electric bus company operating in Kenya supported by British International Investment (BII), we observed efforts to modernise public transport while reducing reliance onimported fuel.

This is particularly relevant at a time when both the UK and Kenya are exposed to global energy price volatility driven in part by consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and instability in the Middle East affecting key shipping routes and energy supplies. In the context of recent fuel price protests in Kenya, such innovation takes on added significance.

The lesson is equally relevant for Britain.

With around 90 per cent of Kenya’s electricity generated from renewable sources, electric transport presents both an environmental and economic opportunity. At a time of fiscal pressure across many Western economies, combining sustainable projects such as BasiGo with investment opportunities is vital.

The investment illustrates how UK-back capital can support commercially viable infrastructure while also generating returns for the British taxpayer.

Too often, international development and economic growth are treated as competing priorities. In reality, they are mutually reinforcing. Strategic investment can unlock private-sector growth, strengthen local economies and help create the conditions for greater stability. That benefits partner countries, but also generates opportunities for British businesses, investors and

Exporters.

The relationship between development and security was equally evident in discussions with humanitarian organisations and UN agencies working with refugees across the region. Kenya hosts approximately one million refugees and asylum seekers, placing significant pressure on public services. These pressures are not entirely dissimilar to those seen in the UK and other western countries, which are also facing rising migration pressures.

There is a strong case for greater international cooperation to help address the root causes of displacement and irregular migration, while promoting stability in regions of strategic importance to the UK.

One of our final engagements was with the BBC World Service in Nairobi. It reaches a global audience of hundreds of millions each week, including across Africa in multiple languages and remains one of Britain’s most effective instruments of soft power. Yet it operates in an increasingly contested information environment.

Russia relies on local influencers and proxy outlets, while China has invested heavily in broadcasting partnerships and communications infrastructure. The case for maintaining a credible British international media presence could not have been clearer. Funding pressures and recent cuts have already affected programming, including health and disinformation content.

In conversations with Kenyan parliamentarians, British diplomats and defence officials, there was a strong reaffirmation of Kenya’s commitment to its partnership with the UK.

The four pillars of the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership, trade and investment, climate resilience, science and technology, and security, continue to provide a strong foundation for cooperation. Defence cooperation remains a central pillar of this engagement. Through the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), the UK continues to support regional security and counter-terrorism efforts that help keep our nation safe while strengthening defence cooperation between the two countries.

At the same time, concerns were raised that reductions in aid budgets, diplomatic staffing and wider British capacity risk undermining the delivery of shared objectives overseas. Members of the Kenyan Parliament were clear that while Kenya highly values its relationship with the UK, any gaps created by reduced British engagement will not remain unfilled.

Beyond security and diplomacy, there is significant scope to deepen UK-Kenya trade and investment links in the years ahead, particularly in sectors such as geothermal energy, where Kenya has substantial untapped potential.

The visit reinforced the breadth and strategic importance of the UK-Kenya partnership at a pivotal moment. Britain’s presence in Kenya spans the full range of foreign policy tools, serving as a reminder that the UK does not strengthen its global position by retreating from international engagement. Prosperity, security and influence depend on building strong partnerships with countries that share its interests and values. Conservative Home